economic activity back to slow in January – iOnline

The economic activity indicator continued to slow in January. According to the Economic Survey of the National Statistics Institute (INE) released on Thursday, the indicator had an increase of 2.3% compared to January 2015, but this growth was below the 2.6% recorded in December

 
 

The production index in industry and construction had poor performance. The first, though still in positive territory, accentuated the trend of recent months and came down:. Annual increase of 1.1 in January is 1.2 points less than in the previous month

 
 

The second reinforced the negative trend, having spent a year on year fall of 4.3% in December to -4.5% in January.

 
 

The turnover index improved slightly but remains in negative territory.

 
 

“The negative annual variations of these indices in recent months may reflect primarily price decreases, as the industrial production index has shown positive year growth rates, although decelerating in December and January,” the INE.

 
 

Since the economic climate indicator, which had decreased between September and January, increased slightly in February.

 
 

According to INE data in February, the indicator rose 0.7% year on year, just 0.1 points more than in January. The confidence indicator in manufacturing remained in negative territory, to record an annual decrease of 2.9%.

 
 

The indicator in trade remained unchanged from February 2015, after January have fallen 0.7% over the same period last year.

 
 

The confidence indicator for manufacturing industry stabilized in February, after increasing in the previous two months. The balance of opinions of the manufacturing industry on the global demand fell slightly, interrupting the positive movement recorded since December, reads the INE note.